National spatial data infrastructure collaboration for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Spatial data is a vital national resource necessary for a country’s efficient and sustainable economic, social and environmental development, and so must be properly developed and managed. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), there is lack of knowledge and no clear framework describing the optimal way for stakeholders, users, providers or administrators, to collaborate effectively in establishing a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Moreover, the complex, multi-layer and multi-jurisdiction system of government leads to competing interests and mandates in coordinating spatial activity. Previous studies on NSDI in KSA focused on technical infrastructure strategy. However, there is a need to study institutional/organisational issues affecting collaboration in NSDI for KSA. This research presented in this thesis leads to recommendations for a best practice, collaboration initiative for Saudi NSDI, and contributes to advancing the goals and implementation of NSDI in KSA. A mixed (triangulated) quantitative and qualitative case study research design was adopted to assist in achieving the research aims, utilising a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed and elicited concepts to recommend the Saudi NSDI collaboration initiative. A literature review was conducted in areas relevant to Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and collaboration. The diverse definitions for SDI, its main components, and hierarchical nature were explored. Definitions for collaboration, motivational factors, and potential risks and costs were also reviewed. While a conventional NSDI is characterised by a top down approach, new technologies connected to social developments have led to a rapid, parallel development of commercial-, and consumer-led SDI, or dynamic ‘GeoWeb’, representing the potential next generation, Web 2.0 form, of NSDI. Institutional and technical factors are key elements in the success of NSDI collaboration initiatives, which include organisational commitment, policies, and technological resources. The national initiatives for the UK, USA, Australia, and Canada are reviewed and compared, along five key themes: objectives and vision, coordination, datasets, standards, and access. This highlighted the evolving nature of NSDI, given the rapid pace of developments in technology-driven applications and tools, and that coordination and agreement among all stakeholders requires accurate and reliable datasets, widely accepted metadata and standards, and interoperable technology, and must include all government levels and jurisdictions, with greater private sector integration. The current situation in KSA regarding the main SDI stakeholders, and their historical development, including legislation and policies and the barriers to sharing spatial data existing, facilitates background to understanding the issues involved in developing a Saudi NSDI. This is reinforced by primary data collected through a quantitative questionnaire survey of all 26 spatial data bodies in KSA, and qualitative semi-structured interviews of 72 key persons. The data includes themes, like types of spatial organisation and sphere of operations, data types and themes, standards and technical issues, and inter-organisational relationships and collaboration. The results revealed a lack of collaboration due to negative organisational cultures, and technical obstacles relating to a need for unified spatial data and metadata standards and specifications. In particular, there was an absence of appropriate legislation to deal with the two previous points, as well as providing protection for intellectual property; such legislation would outline a system within which collaboration would take place. The historical development and current status of key, independent SDI initiatives in KSA, i.e. MOMRA, Riyadh, and Saudi National SDI, are presented using data from secondary and primary sources. Each initiative represents city, ministry, and national level SDI initiative for collaboration. Finally, this research concludes by providing recommendations for best practice in collaboration among the various stakeholders forming a potential Saudi NSDI. It also outlines suggestions for future work

Mapping Crisis

The digital age has thrown questions of representation, participation and humanitarianism back to the fore, as machine learning, algorithms and big data centres take over the process of mapping the subjugated and subaltern. Since the rise of Google Earth in 2005, there has been an explosion in the use of mapping tools to quantify and assess the needs of those in crisis, including those affected by climate change and the wider neo-liberal agenda. Yet, while there has been a huge upsurge in the data produced around these issues, the representation of people remains questionable. Some have argued that representation has diminished in humanitarian crises as people are increasingly reduced to data points. In turn, this data has become ever more difficult to analyse without vast computing power, leading to a dependency on the old colonial powers to refine the data collected from people in crisis, before selling it back to them. This book brings together critical perspectives on the role that mapping people, knowledges and data now plays in humanitarian work, both in cartographic terms and through data visualisations, and questions whether, as we map crises, it is the map itself that is in crisis

National spatial data infrastructure collaboration for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Spatial data is a vital national resource necessary for a country’s efficient and sustainable economic, social and environmental development, and so must be properly developed and managed. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), there is lack of knowledge and no clear framework describing the optimal way for stakeholders, users, providers or administrators, to collaborate effectively in establishing a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Moreover, the complex, multi-layer and multi-jurisdiction system of government leads to competing interests and mandates in coordinating spatial activity. Previous studies on NSDI in KSA focused on technical infrastructure strategy. However, there is a need to study institutional/organisational issues affecting collaboration in NSDI for KSA. This research presented in this thesis leads to recommendations for a best practice, collaboration initiative for Saudi NSDI, and contributes to advancing the goals and implementation of NSDI in KSA. A mixed (triangulated) quantitative and qualitative case study research design was adopted to assist in achieving the research aims, utilising a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed and elicited concepts to recommend the Saudi NSDI collaboration initiative. A literature review was conducted in areas relevant to Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and collaboration. The diverse definitions for SDI, its main components, and hierarchical nature were explored. Definitions for collaboration, motivational factors, and potential risks and costs were also reviewed. While a conventional NSDI is characterised by a top down approach, new technologies connected to social developments have led to a rapid, parallel development of commercial-, and consumer-led SDI, or dynamic ‘GeoWeb’, representing the potential next generation, Web 2.0 form, of NSDI. Institutional and technical factors are key elements in the success of NSDI collaboration initiatives, which include organisational commitment, policies, and technological resources. The national initiatives for the UK, USA, Australia, and Canada are reviewed and compared, along five key themes: objectives and vision, coordination, datasets, standards, and access. This highlighted the evolving nature of NSDI, given the rapid pace of developments in technology-driven applications and tools, and that coordination and agreement among all stakeholders requires accurate and reliable datasets, widely accepted metadata and standards, and interoperable technology, and must include all government levels and jurisdictions, with greater private sector integration. The current situation in KSA regarding the main SDI stakeholders, and their historical development, including legislation and policies and the barriers to sharing spatial data existing, facilitates background to understanding the issues involved in developing a Saudi NSDI. This is reinforced by primary data collected through a quantitative questionnaire survey of all 26 spatial data bodies in KSA, and qualitative semi-structured interviews of 72 key persons. The data includes themes, like types of spatial organisation and sphere of operations, data types and themes, standards and technical issues, and inter-organisational relationships and collaboration. The results revealed a lack of collaboration due to negative organisational cultures, and technical obstacles relating to a need for unified spatial data and metadata standards and specifications. In particular, there was an absence of appropriate legislation to deal with the two previous points, as well as providing protection for intellectual property; such legislation would outline a system within which collaboration would take place. The historical development and current status of key, independent SDI initiatives in KSA, i.e. MOMRA, Riyadh, and Saudi National SDI, are presented using data from secondary and primary sources. Each initiative represents city, ministry, and national level SDI initiative for collaboration. Finally, this research concludes by providing recommendations for best practice in collaboration among the various stakeholders forming a potential Saudi NSDI. It also outlines suggestions for future work

Mapping Crisis: Participation, Datafication, and Humanitarianism in the Age of Digital Mapping

This book brings together critical perspectives on the role that mapping people, knowledges and data now plays in humanitarian work, both in cartographic terms and through data visualisations. Since the rise of Google Earth in 2005, there has been an explosion in the use of mapping tools to quantify and assess the needs of the poor, including those affected by climate change and the wider neo-liberal agenda. Yet, while there has been a huge upsurge in the data produced around these issues, the representation of people remains questionable. Some have argued that representation has diminished in humanitarian crises as people are increasingly reduced to data points. In turn, this data becomes ever more difficult to analyse without vast computing power, leading to a dependency on the old colonial powers to refine the data of the poor, before selling it back to them. These issues are not entirely new, and questions around representation, participation and humanitarianism can be traced back beyond the speeches of Truman, but the digital age throws these issues back to the fore, as machine learning, algorithms and big data centres take over the process of mapping the subjugated and subaltern. This book questions whether, as we map crises, it is the map itself that is in crisis

Citizen Science

Citizen science, the active participation of the public in scientific research projects, is a rapidly expanding field in open science and open innovation. It provides an integrated model of public knowledge production and engagement with science. As a growing worldwide phenomenon, it is invigorated by evolving new technologies that connect people easily and effectively with the scientific community. Catalysed by citizens’ wishes to be actively involved in scientific processes, as a result of recent societal trends, it also offers contributions to the rise in tertiary education. In addition, citizen science provides a valuable tool for citizens to play a more active role in sustainable development. This book identifies and explains the role of citizen science within innovation in science and society, and as a vibrant and productive science-policy interface. The scope of this volume is global, geared towards identifying solutions and lessons to be applied across science, practice and policy. The chapters consider the role of citizen science in the context of the wider agenda of open science and open innovation, and discuss progress towards responsible research and innovation, two of the most critical aspects of science today